Memory

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ความฝันแต่เดิมก่อน…

ความทรงจำที่เคยมี…

เวลาที่ผ่านพ้นไป…

จบวันนี้ยังไม่ลืม…

คำว่าเพื่อน…

คืออะไร…

The Great Wall

20 years ago today…the Berlin Wall was toppled…a symbolic victory of a new age, new era of prosperity, the triumph of democracy, of free market capitalism over Marxist communism.

The western world rejoiced, holding hands to celebrate the great event. The cold war had ended. The dreaded nuclear holocaust was evaded. Humanity prevailed. The significance of the event is indeed profound. The fall of the Berlin Wall led to the fall of the Soviet Union, ascertaining the superiority of western ideologies.

Many in East Germany had seen their quality of life improved, their security ensured, for many families it was a great moment of reunification, for others a realized hope of freedom. The day carried with it solemnity and sincerity, a bottom of the heart appreciation for life and liberty.

Great as it was, the fall of the Berlin Wall also brought down with it the biggest obstacle in the way of our modern political and economic system. The only threat that kept our progress in check. The cold war guided our civilization to proceed cautiously. To focus on what’s important, to think about what’s happening in the world. The war veterans stared into the face of absolute despair, of soulless murders and of meaningless deaths. They came back never wanting to see it again, or let another soul experience the horrendous destitution form the darkest depth of humanity. They built great cities, conquered the moon, established great institutions. Many fought for equality, for justice, for freedom at the cost of their lives.

We have gained much since 20 years ago, but we have lost much as well. In our prosperity, we became obsessed with successes. In our freedom, we became obsessed with getting our ways. In our equality, we have forgotten those still oppressed. Although the Berlin Wall was destroyed, we managed to build other walls. We walled up in work, making money, hoping that one day we’ll have it all. We walled up with insurances, hoping that we never have to face any risks. We walled up behind masks, shrouding ourselves in mystery and misery, hoping that someone somewhere will notice and care for us.

The old wall may be gone, but a new wall is still here. Until we embrace one another, remembering how much we mean to each other, we’ll never truly be equal. Until we realize that money and security are futile, that there’s more to life than striving for success, we’ll never truly be free. Until we remember our hopes and dreams, chasing after them once more, we’ll never truly be alive.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

It is amazing how in the most random moments, you can conjure up a distant image, a long forgotten memory.

Does the past define who I am today, or does today reflect who I will be tomorrow?Will today yield the answer to yesterday’s question, will it determine the course of tomorrow?

We are entangled in time, caught in between moments, in reflection of the past, in hope of the future…But we live in the here and now, should we not make every moment count? Yet if we do live in the moment, and forget about what’s past, will we not lose a part of ourselves? And if we don’t hope for the future, how can we continue forward?

We are caught in the river of time, the past streaming into the present, flowing into the future. One cannot be without another. The interplay between all of these moments is crucial as a part of life.

Every moments in the past become a link in the chain of memory…every moment in the present…becomes a past…every moment in the future…becomes the present…and the past…They define us, shape us, guiding us into the known and the unknown…

memories…experiences…dreams… LIFE…

THIS IS IT…

Man I really didn’t plan to rant on and on in my first post, but I guess it’s too late to complain. So here goes:

Forget terrorists, forget nukes, forget zombies invasion, World War Three is gonna be a war against nature.

Heard about the heat wave in France back in 2003 today. A prologue or a cautionary tale to the devastating impact of the coming climate change? 70,000 lives. A number? A statistical figure? In an event described as “the number of deaths in a week was even more than when we were bombed during second world war” from just a momentary shift in weather that lasted a couple weeks.

Most of the deaths were from the elderlies…the ones who thought to enjoy their last days of life after a whole life of hard work. Gone just like that. So many had died that there was no place to store all the bodies. It must have been a dreadful sight, people falling over in the streets, dead bodies lying everywhere.  70,000. Let’s put it to perspective, if I divide that number by 365 days…I’ll get about 192. I guess I can see about that many people in a day. So that means every person I come into contact with from this moment on until the same day next year…all gone…

Well that was a couple years ago right? It was an anomaly right? It’s not gonna happen again right? We sure hope so. But reality doesn’t seem to want to agree. The shift in climate will have a devastating effect on all life forms…with implications beyond our current understanding…with current trend of greenhouse gas emission, many scientific bodies suggest a possible 4 degree increase in global mean temperature by 2100, maybe even earlier as most of their assumptions are very conservative. So what does 4 degree increase in global temperature mean? Well it means the ocean will get a heck of a lot warmer, many species go extinct, good bye ecosystem, rising sea level, good bye coastal lands, sorry 2/3 of the world cities and 60% of its population who live within 100 km of the ocean. Well couple that with a projected population growth to 9.5 billion by 2050 (world population doubled in the past 20 years so a third increase isn’t too far fetched is it). Well we can just stack them together in a city with high rise buildings! But wait, how are we going to feed them? Well have no fear, by then we’ll have half the water resource we have now, and a hell lot less fertilizer (that’s what food is made of nowadays anyways).

Can things get any better? Well of course! Apparently the ocean temperature affects the weather pattern (What really?). Global temperature rise will produce more powerful hurricanes, heat waves and off season rain, flooding and drought everywhere. I’ll put it to more details about how it all could happen, but that’s for another day.

So we should do something about it you say? Of course we should !! We should just keep on living and enjoy every bit of things our lives have to offer! Continue buying, go out and max out your credit cards, buy that nice gift you always wanted for yourself for Christmas!! c’mon guys we’re in a big recession here. We need more consumer spending to bounce the economy back! Otherwise, how are we suppose to keep producing shits we don’t need? How can we burn down more forests to make more land for making burgers? How can we keep producing cars if nobody wants to buy them? Seriously, a lot of people are losing their jobs there, and you are to blame! Why can’t you care more like the government and throw billions upon billions to bail out these auto makers! Even better to give even more billions to those bankers who caused this mess in the first place! Of course they’re indispensable, a lot of our investments are at stake there!! all our life savings, all our pensions and GICs and mutual funds and stocks ! !  We can’t just let those virtual wealth go down the drain like that !?!

You know what? I’m tired of reading about what I just wrote too, so let’s just all go McDonald’s grab a burger then hit a movie theatre to watch 2012 ! The graphics will be so awesome and hey, who doesn’t wanna see the end of the world?…

Well, I hope someone will mourn the planet when it finally say “This is it…”

-R.I.P. PLANET EARTH o yea and you too M.J. This is really it.